


Circo De Amor

by incorrectbatfam



Category: DCU (Comics), Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: 5 Times, Fluff, Humor, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-22
Updated: 2020-04-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:35:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23781721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/incorrectbatfam/pseuds/incorrectbatfam
Summary: Five times Bart and Jaime didn’t realize they were boyfriends.That’s it. Just five instances of them being oblivious and in love.
Relationships: Bart Allen/Jaime Reyes, Tim Drake/Cassie Sandsmark
Comments: 7
Kudos: 147





	Circo De Amor

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to @bisexualoftheblade for the beta-reading and inspiration, and thank you to @crystalinastar for some inspiration too

**1: The Nicknames**

“Hey babe, you mind showing me how to use that retro microwave thingy again?”

The question turned a few heads around the tower. Well, not the question itself. Bart was always forgetting how to use old technology and someone had to help him. Without fail, that someone was always Jaime. The thing that got people staring was what Bart said before the question.

As Jaime explained,  _ “You don’t use the popcorn setting for popcorn or else it’ll burn. No, I don’t know why it’s there” _ , the other occupants of the kitchen—Kon, M’gann, and Garfield—exchanged glances. M’gann psychically relayed her question of  _ “Is there something going on?” _ to the other two, to which she received two confused shrugs.

“You’re a lifesaver, Jaime!” Bart exclaimed. “Sweet, buttery heaven, come to papa!”

Jaime chuckled. “Of course. Anytime,  _ cariño _ .”

(Kon—who was programmed to understand Spanish—spat out his drink.)

It wasn’t the first nor only time it happened. It was a gradual process, built from friendly banter and falling asleep on the sofa after particularly tiring missions and nights chasing each other in the El Paso desert. “Blue” turned into “babe”, “ _ hermano _ ” turned into “ _ cariño _ ”. It felt right. The words fell from their lips like water cascading over the falls. It was simply the first time other teammates noticed it, however. Normally they either weren’t around or were preoccupied.

“Uh, Jaime, can you say that again?” Kon asked, wiping his chin.

“Say what?” Jaime asked, confused.

“What you just said to Bart.”

“ _ Cariño _ ?”

“Yeah, that. Since when were you guys a thing?”

Bart interrupted, mouth full of popcorn, asking, “What’s a thing?”

“You and Jaime,” Kon said. “Right?”

The two in question looked at each other, as if having a mental back-and-forth deliberation. Finally, they answered at the same time, “We’re not together.”

Kon glared at them like they were outright lying to him. “What do you mean you’re not together?” he asked. “You literally call each other ‘babe’ and ‘sweetheart’.”

“Is that what that means?” Bart asked Jaime.

“Uh...yeah? But in my defense, you called me ‘babe’ first,” Jaime pointed out.

“Well, yeah, ‘cause people do it all the time. Joan, my grandma, you know,” Bart said. “I can stop if you want me to.”

“No, no, I’m cool with it.”

“Exactly! See, Superboy, it’s totally normal.”

Kon threw his hands up in the air.

  
  


**2: The Dare**

“Okay, Bart, your turn: truth or dare,” said Cassie.

The two of them plus M’gann and Barbara were all in a little circle for their usual weekend sleepover. Each had a hot chocolate in their hands—Bart had two—and they were knee-deep into an intense game of Truth or Dare. The guys didn’t do stuff like that and the girls were more than willing to let Bart into their slumber parties, where they gossiped and exchanged secrets and watched cheesy rom-coms and gorged themselves on sweets.

Bart shoved another cookie in his mouth before saying confidently, “Dare!”

Cassie looked at Bart for a second before leaning in and whispering something to Barbara. The redhead stifled a laugh before passing it onto M’gann like a game of telephone.

“So is anyone gonna tell me to like...eat something gross or something?” Bart asked.

Cassie giggled. “Nope. We dare you to go on a date with Jaime.”

The boy reeled back. “Jaime? Like, Jaime Reyes? Blue Beetle?”

“Yep,” the girls answered in unison.

A huge smile broke out on Bart’s face. “Awesome! We can finally hit that new skate park by his place and I can meet all his friends.”

Barbara opened her mouth. “Kid, we meant you and Jaime alone. Like, a real date.”

“Ooh, I already have ideas for a perfect day out,” Cassie said. “And to make sure you follow through, we can make it a double-date with me and Tim.”

Bart shrugged and opened another pack of cookies. “Works for me, as long as there’ll be snacks. M’gann, your turn. Truth or dare?”

And that was how, twelve hours later, Bart, Jaime, Cassie, and Tim found themselves at the biggest arcade Gotham City had to offer. The lights were bright and flashy and sounds of jingling tokens and machines buzzing with winning prizes filled their ears. Jaime narrowly dodged a party of small children as Bart led him to the Dance Dance Revolution machine, fingers interlaced as they navigated through the crowd. Jaime chose to ignore Tim’s pointed look from the snack line. The place was crowded and they didn’t want to get lost, so what? Billionaire Batman protogé was just upset that he had to pay for a bunch of teen heroes’ insatiable appetites, Jaime figured.

“This way, babe. I wanna show you my high score!” Bart said, vibrating with excitement.

They passed Cassie as he said that, and Jaime assumed that her facepalm was just because of the rigged Wheel of Fortune machine. Finally, the two of them arrived at a machine with arrows on the ground and dancers on the screen. The screen had the letters “KF” followed by a number with more digits and the second and third place ones combined.

“Pretty crash, right? Plus, check out what I got for it!” Bart unraveled a roll of tickets from his pocket, stretching across the entire arcade floor, looping around their feet twice like Wonder Girl’s lasso. “And I know exactly what I’m gonna buy.” He pointed to a giant teddy bear with fire hydrant red fur and a lightning bolt on the belly.

“Hang on,  _ cariño _ , lemme count mine. Maybe we can get something together,” Jaime said.

All in all, Jaime had enough for one of the big prizes too (the scarab had its perks). He picked a matching teddy bear, only its fur was bright cobalt and it had a beetle symbol embroidered on its paws.

“Hey, check it out,” Bart said, holding up his red one. “Twinsies!”

“Actually, Milagro will probably steal this if I take it home. You can have mine if you want,” Jaime said.

“Oh, we’re trading then? Crash,” Bart said, handing the Flash-inspired bear to Jaime while taking the Blue Beetle one off the older boy’s hands. “Still twinsies!”

Jaime laughed. “Yep.”

The lady behind the prize counter cooed, “Sorry, I couldn’t help but overhear. You two are such a cute couple.”

Immediately, they said at the same time, “We’re not a couple.”

“Oh, my bad. Well, have a nice day!” she said cheerily.

“You too,” Jaime said. “Come on, Bart, let’s go find the others.”

It wasn’t hard to catch up with Tim and Cassie. They were close by, Tim holding two extra-large pizzas for them and Cassie next to him, banging her head repeatedly against the wall.

“Uh, is she okay?” Jaime asked.

“Yeah. She’s indestructible, she’ll be fine,” Tim said. “We overheard a couple of people say something that got on our nerves. I’d join her if I wasn’t carrying our lunch.”

“Man, that’s so moded,” Bart said. 

“Don’t worry about it,  _ ese _ ,” Jaime said. “People say stuff without knowing. They’re probably just a couple clueless  _ pendejos _ .”

Tim smiled and answered through gritted teeth, “You have no idea.”

**3: The Couch**

Three couches. Two armchairs. The softest rug with the biggest floor space in the building and where did Beast Boy find Kid Flash?

The living room wasn’t crowded. No, it was the exact opposite. Everyone was elsewhere, doing their own thing. Robin had his case files, which Batgirl was helping him within the Batcave. Miss Martian was off-world with Superboy, Wonder Girl went to Taco Bell. That left Beast Boy alone with undoubtedly the grossest but also most oblivious couple in all the multiverses. Again, they had all the room in the world, but Bart was almost completely on Jaime’s lap, legs draped over in a mess of long limbs that tangled with the wires of their video game controllers.

Gar was going to ask Kid Flash for a minor favor, retrieving some backup comms from a supply storage that wasn’t as close as he would’ve liked it to be. Speedsters were perfect for that kind of job. But seeing the not-couple being all mushy and not-coupley made the boy change his mind about asking, lest he had to get anywhere closer to that (seriously, their heads were close enough that they might as well have been making out). He could transform into a falcon or something and retrieve the comms himself.

Neither Bart nor Jaime noticed Gar’s temporary presence as Bart pulled closer, pressing his body against Jaime’s side. The older one responded with a hum of contentment, resting his head on top of Bart’s.

“Checkpoint’s just over the hill,” the speedster said, pointing his controller at the TV. “I’ll get the zombies, you get the prize chest thingies.”

“Loot boxes,” Jaime supplied helpfully.

“Yeah, those.”

They stayed like that, perfectly comfortable despite Bart’s hair tickling Jaime’s nose and Jaime’s knee jabbing into Bart’s thigh. One of them—they weren’t sure which—yawned, and that alerted them both to how late it was. Outside the curtain walls, the orange sun mingled with the dark blue night, casting a torch-like glow on the sleek headquarters.

“We should probably get up,” Jaime said.

Bart responded by stretching his arms around Jaime’s torso. He yawned again, nuzzling against Jaime’s chest.

“But I’m tired,” the speedster complained. “I don’t wanna move.”

To say Jaime put up a fight, insisting that they got up and do something, was pretty much a lie. They didn’t have any major responsibilities at the moment, plus Bart sprawled on top like a weighted blanket was enough to make the other teen drowsy enough to settle back down.

Beast Boy wasn’t surprised to find them fast asleep in the same position when he returned. He rolled his eyes and tossed a blanket over the two “friends”.

**4: The Relatives**

Jaime barely zeta-ed in on time to catch Barbara and M’gann leaving the debriefing room. They were in their civilian clothes, meaning they probably had enough time to answer something for him.

“Babs, M’gann!” he called out. “Hey, I need to ask you two something. I’d ask the guys but they’re busy testing out new suit features.”

“Sure,” M’gann replied. “How can we help?”

“I need advice on asking Bart to be my fake boyfriend.”

Barbara physically reeled back. “You want Bart to be your  _ fake _ boyfriend?” she asked as if she didn’t believe a word he just said.

“Yeah,” Jaime said. “Any advice on how to ask him?”

“Hold on now, Jaime,” said M’gann. “Why would you want to pretend to date Bart?”

“It’s my extended family,” Jaime explained. “They’re coming over for my  _ abuela’s _ birthday, but my uncles and aunts don’t believe I’m bi. They think it’s a phase and that I just need to ‘find the right girl’, so I wanna bring a fake boyfriend to prove them wrong.”

“Why not ask one of the other guys? I’m sure Kon won’t mind,” Barbara said.

“Because my relatives all know Bart from the last reunion,” Jaime replied. “If they react badly, then at least it won’t be as bad as it’d be with someone who’s a stranger to them.”

M’gann placed a hand on his shoulder. “Just ask him, Jaime.”

“What if he says no?”

The Martian smiled softly. “Something tells me you’ll be okay.

“If you say so. Wish me luck,” Jaime said to the girls.

Barbara snorted, “You don’t need any.” But Jaime already zoomed off faster than Barry Allen himself.

He found Bart with the other guys, trying out some new additions to their costumes. Bart appeared to be having a little too much fun with the color-changing features, as his Kid Flash suit was a bubblegum pink instead of its usual yellow. Tim was off to the side, configuring something on the computer. Kon was trying out a souped-up leather jacket in front of a mirror while Gar played with a FitBit-like band on his wrist. Bart’s eyes lit up as soon as Jaime entered the room.

“Babe, BB, Bee-tell,” the younger boy greeted. “We were just testing out some new gear, courtesy of the Justice League. Pretty crash, right?” He flexed an arm, showing off biceps that totally did not capture Jaime’s attention.

“Yeah. Uh, listen, Bart, can I talk to you alone for a second?”

Bart jabbed a thumb towards Tim. “No can do, Robin won’t let me move until he calibrates all the features.”

“Oh, well…” Jaime cleared his throat, prying his eyes away from how Bart’s suit hugged every part of his body. “So you know how my  _ tíos y tías  _ are kinda homophobic, right? They’re coming over this weekend and I was wondering if you could...sorta...pretend to be my boyfriend? Just to kinda make a point to them.”

It was then that Kon loudly groaned and spoke up, “Hey Robin, I think I need an extra pocket in this thing.”

“No you don’t–” Tim looked up from Superboy to Kid Flash to Blue Beetle and realization dawned on his face. “Actually, on second thought, you need lots of extra pockets. Let’s go check the supply room.”

“Ooh! I can help!” Gar chimed in. “It’s messy in there, you need an eagle eye.”

“Good call, Beast Boy,” said the Kryptonian.

The three hurried out, Tim not even bothering to take his phone or bo staff. That left Jaime, in his civvies, with a pink-suited Bart.

“Wonder what that was about,” Bart said.

“Doesn’t matter,” Jaime replied. “So...about the, uh, fake date thing. You don’t have to if you don’t wanna, I get if it’s weird or–”

Bart cut him off with a knowing smile. “Jaime, darling, I’d be honored. Just give me, like, a two-minute heads-up beforehand so I can find a decent suit.”

And so three days later, Bart showed up on the Reyes’ front porch in a red dress shirt with a black tie, hair tamed to the best of his ability because these were Jaime’s relatives. The residence was decorated with bright streamers and a sign for Jaime’s grandmother’s birthday. All around the yard, amber fairy lights hung crisscrossed above people’s heads like a safety net. Jaime’s relatives all milled about, an old Mexican woman being the center of it all next to a table weighed down with delectable-smelling food and a towering tiered cake. The speedster’s eyes widened in awe, and he was so transfixed by the beauty of it that he didn’t even notice his fake-date until the latter placed a hand on his shoulder.

One look at Jaime and Bart decided the house was not the most beautiful thing ever. At fifteen and eighteen, respectively, Bart and Jaime’s height difference was negligible. Bart noted the cleanly pressed black outfit with a red tie and the faint smell of aftershave and cinnamon cologne.

“I told my parents and sister about this whole thing,” Jaime said. “That way they’ll go along too and pretend we’ve been together for a while.”

Bart nodded, resisting the temptation to run his fingers through Jaime’s hair and kiss him on the spot—even if they were supposed to be “boyfriends”. He allowed the older boy to take the lead, introducing him to a head-spinning amount of uncles and aunts and cousins and great-whoever and second-someone-removed. The younger relatives were warmer towards Bart, even if they were a little wary about Jaime having a male partner. The older ones gave disapproving looks, but played up the politeness because they’d met the younger boy before and he was family to them. Bart simply smiled and waved and let Jaime answer all the questions.

“I hope that wasn’t too uncomfortable,” Jaime said when they got a moment aside to themselves.

Bart dug his fork into the slice of sweet dulce de leche cake. “It’s all crash,” he said. “I think it went pretty well.”

Jaime grabbed a napkin and wiped a crumb from the corner of Bart’s mouth. “Honestly, I was expecting so much worse,” he said. “Especially from my Tía Maria, she’s like the most conservative one.”

Bart pointed to the dance floor behind Jaime, where a slow song played over the stereo and couples—Bianca and Alberto, among others—pulled up to dance. Single people, including Milagro and a few cousins, hung off to the side, chatting with each other.

Bart offered a hand to Jaime. “Gotta keep up this fake boyfriend act, right?”

Jaime looked down at the outstretched palm. “Right.”

The pair made their way around the dance floor. Bart wasn’t a half-bad dancer, but he moved too fast. Jaime’s hands on his waist anchored him. Reminded him that not everything in life had to be rushed. As they slowed down, Bart quickly found himself drowning in milk chocolate eyes. His hands moved from Jaime’s shoulders to draping behind his neck, and they were so close that their noses almost touched.

Alberto Reyes glanced from his son back to his wife. “I’ll give it to Jaime, he’s a really good actor. Bart too.”

Bianca hummed in agreement. “If they hadn’t said anything, I could’ve sworn they were a real couple.”

  
  


**5: The Sleepover**

**_“Jaime Reyes, your body temperature has steadily increased since the Kid Flash arrived. Suggested tactic: eliminate the Kid Flash.”_ **

Jaime rolled his eyes and ignored Khaji Da, as usual. The scarab treated everything as a threat, especially Bart. There was no reason to listen to it, especially because there was nothing out of the ordinary with having a sleepover. It was late, and Jaime saw that Bart was struggling to keep his eyes open.

He gently nudged the speedster. “Cariño, we can go to bed if you’re tired.”

“Mmm, sounds good.”

Instead of setting out the sleeping bag that he brought, Bart rolled over on the bed and rubbed his cheek between Jaime’s shoulder blades.

The scarab hissed like a cat being given a bath,  **_“I am under attack. Requesting permission to engage in tactical combat.”_ **

“No, Khaji,” the older teen mumbled.

He shivered involuntarily. Bart was a lot of things—a hugger, a cuddler—but one thing Jaime didn’t expect the speedster to be was cold. He wondered how on Earth Bart was so cold. Weren’t speedsters surrounded by energy or something? Weren’t their body temperatures supposed to be higher than normal? And yet when Bart’s arms wrapped around his chest, it felt like being little spooned by Jack Frost himself.

“You smell nice.” Bart rambled a lot when he was really tired (again, a juxtaposition Jaime appreciated despite not understanding). “You smell like November. Y’know, like apples and cinnamon. Who was the first person who invented that? Did apples and cinnamon grow in the same place so someone can mix them? What does a cinnamon plant even look like?”

Jaime reached forward momentarily to flick off the lights before squeezing Bart’s frigid hands in his warm ones.

**_“Your romantic relationship with the Kid Flash is obnoxious and a distraction from your duties. You cannot allow it to continue.”_ **

_ “We’re not dating,” _ Jaime mentally reminded the scarab.  _ “You should know that out of everyone considering you’re welded to my spine.” _

**_“The evidence I have gathered suggests otherwise.”_ **

Bart continued, unaware of the conversation going on in Jaime’s head. “Isn’t cinnamon supposed to be tree bark? Who decided one day to eat tree bark, but as a powder in tiny amounts with their food?”

Jaime smiled fondly and squeezed Bart’s hand. The latter kept talking. “Why are some things fall foods and others like winter or spring or summer? The past makes no sense. Food is food. If it’s there, you eat it.”

**_“Vital signs show you are clearly infatuated with the Kid Flash.”_ **

“Funny how food brings people together. Speaking of together, you think Tim and Cassie are a thing? They seemed like it at the arcade the other week. And the way they look at each other...either they’re dating or they should be.”

Jaime chuckled. “Tim’s a bat. He’s got the emotional capacity of a packing peanut.”

Bart giggled, a soothing vibration against Jaime’s upper back. “He’s probably completely clueless. He and Cassie could be a couple and everyone would know except them.”

Bart yawned, and that made Jaime yawn too. “Makes sense. Some people are naturally oblivious. Say, babe, if you had to hypothetically date someone on the team, who would it be?” the younger one asked, sleep quickly creeping in his voice.

“Mmm...probably you. Hypothetically. Hard to picture myself with anyone else,” Jaime said, eyes slowly sliding shut. “What about you?”

“I’d date you too. Hypothetically,” Bart replied. “You’re really, really crash.”

Khaji Da hissed,  **_“I give up.”_ **


End file.
